This is a podcast for people interested in building or designing tech products. At least once a week, I speak to product managers, product leaders, product marketers, UX professionals, and anyone else involved in product management and product delivery. Come and listen to some great conversations and get inspired!
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An interview with Yoav Farbey. Yoav is a Senior Product Manager at PARK NOW and former magazine entrepreneur, product analyst and product consultant. I spoke to Yoav about his journey, some of the techniques he's learned in his varied career, and how nothing beats a good design sprint (and how to find the time to do one).
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About the Episode
An interview with Yoav Farbey. Yoav is a Senior Product Manager at PARK NOW, an international company aiming to find you parking spaces and ensure you don't have to fumble around for spare change when you get one. Yoav has travelled from Computer Science to foundership, Product Analyst, Product Consultant and now leading teams and pushing design thinking.
We talk about a lot, including:
The age old battle about whether "Product Owner" should be a job title of its own, and how it differs from being Product Management
Starting his own startup because engineering wasn't for him, how it went and why he called it quits
Getting into Product Analytics as a first step, how it helped him be better Product Manager
What it was like working for a consultancy, and how he managed to keep engaged when the client relationship is so transitory
Using design sprints in the wild, getting engagement and how to get buy in and demonstrate their value
What to do when you can't get a design sprint going, and how to use the best aspects in shorter sessions
How to help large corporations make products effectively and communicate efficiently
How SAFe isn't all that bad really (the humanity!)
And much more!
Contact Yoav
You can reach out to Yoav on LinkedIn or check him out on Medium.
An interview with Petra Wille. Petra is a Product Leadership Coach and the author of the new book "Strong Product People - A Complete Guide to Developing Great Product Managers". I spoke to Petra about her journey into Product Management, the principles she lives by, and how she helps drive a strong Product culture. We also talk about not giving up to soon, but knowing when to quit.
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About the Episode
An interview with Petra Wille. Petra is a Product Leadership Coach and author of the new book "Strong Product People - A Complete Guide to Developing Great Product Managers".
We speak about a lot, including:
How a desire to affect change at scale moved her away from individual coaching to coaching Product Leaders
How she happened upon Product Management by being the best communicator on the development team
How a desire for a practical Product Leadership playbook led her to write her own
The importance of setting expectations and making incremental progress and not always aiming for perfect
The challenges of selling good Product thinking to senior management and some approaches to do it
The challenge of getting good management experience and becoming a good people manager without focused coaching
Some of the challenges facing women Product Leaders and if it's getting better or worse
Whether it's necessary to have a background in development to be an effective PM, or if it's even desirable
When to stick at a Product job and try to make it better, and when it's time to leave
The importance of making time for people development amongst all of the urgent day-to-day work
An interview with Büşra Coşkuner. Büşra is a Product consultant & coach, advocate of practical Product Management and demonstrating Product principles not just reading them out. We spoke about her journey, the principles she teaches companies and individuals, and her passion for No Code solutions. We also cover some of the challenges of being a Woman in Product, and being an ambitious soon-to-be working mum.
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About the Episode
An interview with Büşra Coşkuner. Büşra is a Product Consultant & Coach who works with organisations and individuals to embed Product Management principles.
We speak about a lot, including:
Practical Product Management - you can't learn all of the frameworks
How her experience in Berlin helped but also hindered her move to a different working culture in Switzerland
The challenge of the acronym "MVP" and how no two people think it means the same thing
Companies where leaders don't have product thinking or worse still think they have product thinking
The importance of demonstrating product thinking not just talking about it and being idealistic
How important No Code solutions are for the Product community and what they unlock for busy Product teams
The challenges of being a woman in tech and seeing things in retrospect, and her trepidation of being a working mum
And much more!
Contact Büşra
Aside from her adventures on Clubhouse, you can reach out to Büşra on LinkedIn or Twitter.
An interview with Candice Poon. Candice is a Program Manager for Microsoft, working on Microsoft Edge. She recently came to the attention of the Twittersphere when she was blocked from signing up to Clubhouse due to her name, which kicked off further discussions about diversity and building inclusive products. We speak about the scale of the problem, attitudes to it, and potential solutions.
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About the Episode
An interview with Candice Poon. Candice is a Program Manager at Microsoft (which is really a Product Manager at any other company) working on Microsoft Edge. Candice recently caused a stir on Twitter when she tweeted about her experience being prevented from signing up to Clubhouse because of her name.
We speak about a lot, including:
What it's like working for Microsoft and ensuring Internet Explorer stays in its coffin
Whether being called a Program Manager is confusing and whether she still gets invited to Product Manager parties
How she felt being blocked from signing up to Clubhouse and whether it's happened before
How Clubhouse responded and whether the response was satisfactory
Some of the reasons why people have blind spots when developing products and what we should do to fix them
How Microsoft are promoting diversity & what's left to do
The importance of mixing tech and non-tech skills to further diversify your experience
An interview with Kate Leto. Kate is a product consultant and author of "Hiring Product Managers: Using Product EQ to go beyond culture and skills", a book that she hopes will revolutionise hiring practices and ensure that product teams are set up for success. We talk about some of the themes from the book, and how to incorporate neurodiversity into the mix.
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About the Episode
Kate is a consultant who advises organisations how to build Product teams and practices. She is also the author of "Hiring Product Managers: Using Product EQ to go beyond culture and skills", a book that aims to help hire effective Product leaders in the first place, or develop Product leaders that are struggling to make an impact.
We talk about a lot, including:
How her experience hiring Product leaders helped her write a book about it, and how hard it was to keep it succinct
How hot shot VPs / Heads of Product can fail if they rely too much on technical skills, and how as an industry we focus too much on hiring for them
How long to stick with Product leaders before having that difficult conversation about their next move
How new leaders often aren't set up for success through lack of coaching, and just left to get on with it
The importance of a shared understanding of what the job role entails, and not just copying and pasting job descriptions from Google
The problem with "Cultural Fit" and how you need different puzzle pieces and not a stack of the same
How neurodiversity fits into a high EQ world and how to adapt hiring processes to cater for different ways of thinking
What progress we've made with advancing women in Product Management, and what hasn't changed at all
An interview with Deepti Tadala. Deepti is a Technical Product Manager with Synacor and former Management Consultant with Deloitte. She talks about her journey into Product Management, how her Deloitte experience did and didn't help, the importance of public speaking skills, and how Products by Women has supported her in her career.
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An interview with Cindy Alvarez. Cindy is Director of Customer Research at GitHub and the author of "Lean Customer Development", a book that aims to help you ensure that you build products customers actually want. We speak about the importance of customer interviews, how to run them effectively, and how to build a culture of Continuous Disovery.
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About the Episode
Cindy is Director of Customer Research at GitHub, the world's leading software development platform. Cindy has long experience in customer research with GitHub, Yammer, Microsoft and Kissmetrics. She also wrote the leading book on customer research, 2014's Lean Customer Development which aims to guide teams to build products their customers need.
We speak about a lot, including:
What it's like doing customer research with the world's largest community of software engineers
The importance of testing your customer interview questions and working out what does and doesn't work
The importance of empathy, keeping down-to-earth and being someone customers feel comfortable talking to
Whether a Bachelor's in Psychology helps her to play mind games with her subjects (mwahahaha)
Why she wrote the book, how she did it, and whether she's going to write another one
How to answer some of the common objections to customer interviews, and how ensure you can build a culture of speaking with customers directly
How to optimise for Continuous Discovery and ensure you get a flow of customer feedback and learning
An interview with Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia. Carlos is a podcaster, author, Founder and CEO of Product School, the global Product Management community & the world's leading educational resource for Product Managers of all levels. We speak about what made him set up Product School, how he keeps ahead of the competition, his passion for lifelong learning and ensuring access for all, and commitment to diversity throughout his work.
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About Carlos (official bio!)
Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia is the Founder and CEO of Product School, the global leader in product management training with a community of over one million product professionals. Product School instructors are real-world Product Leaders working at top companies including Google, Facebook, Netflix, Airbnb, PayPal, Uber, and Amazon.
We talk about a lot, including:
How a lack of Product training resources when he started led him to start a Product Management training start up
How he fills his days at CEO of the largest Product Management learning community
How he ensures that, as the leading Product Management learning community, he isn't seen as all size, no quality
His passion for lifelong learning and giving away as much free content as possible
What led him to write The Product Book with Josh Anon and what he expected to achieve from it
How MBAs are great but they don't really prepare people to execute as Product Managers
His and Product School's commitment to inclusion & diversity on their team, their instructors and their attendees
And much more!
More about Carlos' work
Product School need no introduction, but you can visit the Product School website for more details on their courses as well as their free content.
An interview with Melanie McKay. Melanie is Head of Consumer Product at Rightmove, the UK's largest property marketplace. I speak to Melanie about her journey into Product Management, her journey out of it into teaching computing to teenagers, and why she came back. She talks about some of the lessons she's learned in her career, her work with Product School, and much more.
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About the Episode
Melanie is the Head of Consumer Product at Rightmove, the UK's #1 property marketplace. She has worked in a number of Product Management roles, and took an interesting move into secondary school teaching in the middle. Since coming back to Product she's gone from strength to strength, including an appearance at Product School's ProductCon.
We talk about a lot, including:
How Product works at the biggest property marketplace in the UK and whether you get loads of weird requests you get when your TAM is pretty much the entire UK population
How she got into Product by mistake, and what she did to get good at it with no good information to lead her
Whether it is in fact harder for new PMs now because there is too much competing information for them
How her passion for education got her into teaching, how it was teaching computing to kids, and why she came back
What her experience of teaching taught her that she can use in her Product Management career
Getting involved with ProductCon and the importance of going outside of your comfort zone
Her well-received take on the classic PM Venn diagram, and how it's gone down with the PM community
And much more!
Melanie's work with Product School
You can check out Melanie's work with Product School, and her famous new Venn diagram here.
An interview with James Rooney. James is a Delivery Manager at Discovery Inc, working on VOD platforms and ensuring that his teams are able to work effectively and deliver constant value. James speaks about the way he approaches his work and how uses data to inform his delivery decisions. James believes you can use story points for everything and that they're going to save the world. He even takes his story point addiction to developing his budding music career!
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About the Episode
James is a Delivery Manager for Discovery Inc., a VOD entertainment platform. James is a passionate advocate for using story points for just about everything, and using data to inform delivery decisions. We speak about a few topics, including:
How to bring delivery together across multiple technical streams for a big media company
The interplay between Delivery and Product and the importance of a good Product Manager
How to get Product, Delivery & Engineering to work harmoniously
How story points can save the world and how to use them properly
Whether Scrum is any good and some of the ways to make it work for your business
The tricky balance between Product Delivery and fixing tech debt
How to use the data you already have to help inform future delivery decisions
How to use data to sell your message to the leadership team
How running a band and running Product Delivery are pretty similar
Marty is a Silicon Valley veteran of Netscape, eBay and has helped over 100 companies do Product right with Silicon Valley Product Group. He also laid the groundwork for modern Product Management with his classic book "Inspired", explaining how to build great products customers love. Now he's back as co-author with new book "Empowered", which takes aim at creating and maintaining effective Product-led organisations.
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About the Episode
Marty is a renowned Product Management thought leader. He has had an illustrious career at Netscape, eBay, his own original startup (acquired by IBM) and then founding the Silicon Valley Product Group consultancy. He has worked with hundreds of companies to help them build products right. He's also a widely read blogger, and author of a best-selling book on how to build products; "Inspired - How to Create Tech Products Customers Love". Now he's back with co-author and SVPG partner Chris Jones, with "Empowered - Oridinary People, Extraordinary Products" which aims to do for organisations what Inspired did for teams.
I could have spoken to Marty for hours, but here are the highlights:
How come Marty started SVPG after working for some of the best tech companies
How he got good at Product, and the role of luck in that journey
Why he started blogging and how that helped him get his thoughts in order for his books
How he's such a Product Guy that he evens writes his books iteratively
How come the 2nd edition of Inspired was basically a total rewrite, and whether the 1st edition has anything useful in it
Some of the challenges that companies face when trying to be truly Product-led
What to do when your company really doesn't get Product
How to persuade the leadership team that maybe this stuff actually does work
Why he is so passionate about inclusion & diversity in tech, and how he's trying to help
And much more!
Read Marty's work
You can read Marty's blog here or follow him on Twitter.
Christine is a problem-solving, Product-obsessed New Yorker who has swapped the Big Apple for the City of Oaks as Senior Director of Product Operations for Pendo. We talk about the fundamentals of Product Ops, how it works at Pendo, the types of people you need, what they can do for you, and when you need them.
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About the Episode
Christine is Senior Director of Product Operations at Pendo. Christine is a problem-solving, Product-obsessed New Yorker who has swapped the Big Apple for the City of Oaks as Senior Director of Product Operations for Pendo. We talk about the fundamentals of Product Ops, how it works at Pendo, the types of people you need, what they can do for you, and when you need them.
We talk about a lot:
How she traded the Big Apple for the City of Oaks, moving to Raleigh, North Carolina to work with Pendo
The exciting challenges and opportunities of working for a hypergrowth SaaS company
What Product Operations is and how it can help a company as it scales, and how Christine made it happen
The core skills and mindset needed to work in Product Operations
The difference between being data-driven & data-informed, or whether there's any difference at all
The importance of cross-functional communication for Product Ops, and Product teams in general
Some of the challenges being a woman in tech and how she's trying to help solve them
Jackie is formerly of Microsoft, Google and was the first Product hire at Asana. She's also the co-author of two fabulous books - "Cracking the PM Interview" and "Cracking the PM Career". We speak about her history in Product Management, why she wrote the books, and some great advice for all Product Managers to turbo-charge their careers.
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About the Episode
Jackie started her Product Management career as a Program Manager at Microsoft, before joining Google's Associate Product Manager programme and then getting hired as the first Product Manager at Asana. Back in 2013, she collaborated with Gayle McDowell to write the best-selling book "Cracking the PM Interview", which inspired a generation of Product Managers to get their first jobs. Jackie and Gayle are back with "Cracking the PM Career" which explains how to get good at it once you're in.
Understandably, we cover a lot, including:
How Jackie got into Product in the first place, and why Microsoft calls Product Managers Program Managers
The pros and cons of working for Google versus a new startup
How she met and decided to collaborate with Gayle McDowell and how they write together
How the FAANG companies reacted to her giving away all their secrets
Excellent advice on how to make an impact in your new PM job
How to avoid the dreaded Feature Factory, build a strategy and sell it
Why it's important to look outside your Product bubble for inspiration
And much more!
Contact Jackie
You can connect with Jackie on Twitter or find her on Medium.
An interview with Heather James, passionate advocate for Product-Led Growth and Founder of the Product-Led Alliance. We talk about Heather's background in both events and Product Management, and how she was inspired to combine the two and form the Product-Led Alliance. We talk about what being Product-Led means to Heather, why she's so passionate about it, how the PLA can help, and much more.
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About the Episode
Heather is the Founder of The Product-Led Alliance, providing a community, events and materials fora community of passionate product professionals, obsessed with Product-Led Growth. We talk about...
What the Product-Led Alliance is and what it offers
Why Heather is so passionate about Product-Led Growth and some of the challenges in getting there
How she defines Product-Led Growth and how it differs from the dictionary definition
What made her start the Product-Led Alliance when she did
How a community with so much free content pays the bills
How they had to pivot because of COVID-19
What makes her most proud of the Product-Led Alliance so far
An interview with Jack Stevens, Senior Product Manager at Publicis Sapient. At the height of the UK's first lockdown, Jack was included in a BBC article "Stress, burnout and redundancy: Tough times in IT" where he spoke about the toxic narrative that we could all get more done from home. We speak about how he got into the article, the reaction to it, his aversion for hustle culture, how his company supported him, and much more.
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About the Episode
Jack is Senior Product Manager for Publicis Sapient, a product consultancy that helps large companies with their digital transformation. Aside from his day job working on a secret project that he can't tell us about, Jack was also featured in a BBC article last summer "Stress, burnout and redundancy: Tough times in IT". I spoke to Jack about a few things:
His work with Publicis Sapient and how they work really hard to be a flat, open company at scale
How SAFe and other scaled agile approaches (probably) can't work
How he got onto the BBC article in the first place, and how the reaction has been
How hustle culture is toxic, mainly a lie, and we just see the survivors who probably succeeded partially through luck
How it's OK for some people to just be OK and not everyone has to change the world to be successful
How his employer reacted after seeing the article, and the support they gave him
How personal hardship has driven his ambitions to work in financial services to ensure people have the right tools to make good financial decisions
Abby is Senior Product Marketing Manager at GetResponse, and featured speaker at Product-Led Growth Hub. Abby is passionate about Product Management and Product-Led Growth and shares some of her experience and advice for product marketers trying to make an impact on their pirate metrics (AARRR!)
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About the Episode
Abby is Senior Product Marketing Manager for GetResponse, a full stack marketing platform. She's passionate about Product Management and Product-Led Growth, and using data to monitor and inform Product Marketing decisions. Abby is also a features speaker with Product-Led Growth Hub.
The role of Product Marketing and importance of getting close to the Product team
Pirate metrics (AARRR!) and how you can use them to monitor the health of your funnel
The concept of Product-Led Growth and how companies can take their first steps to being Product-Led
The importance of communication and collaboration between functions
How she got involved with Product-Led Growth hub and their future collaboration plans
Whether Product Marketing should report to the VP of Marketing or the VP of Product
Most importantly, whether you can get get good nachos in Poland
Both Abby and I are massive fans of April Dunford's work- you can pick up her book, Obviously Awesome and learn about product positioning from the best.
Ana is a Product Manager at Redbubble and a self-declared vagabond. We talk about her journey into Product, how important it is to have mentorship, how you can build empathy, and how reviewing your communication skills is a must. We also talk about her passion for inclusion & diversity and some of the work that's left to do to build truly inclusive organisations.
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About the Episode
Ana is a self-described vagabond, a Canadian living in Australia, passionate Product Manager at Redbubble, a leading online art marketplace. We speak about the following and more:
Ana's journey into Product Management from Marketing via UX
The importance of guidance and mentorship at the early stages of a PM career
The importance of getting shots on goal early
Some of the systemic problems with returning to work after maternity leave
How we're pretty far from having acceptable diversity in tech & product, but at least the conversations have started
Harpal is an award-winning Product Consultant and Interim CPO. Harpal is passionate about Product/Market Fit and author of a new (free!) Product/Market Fit playbook. We talk about how to get to Product/Market Fit, why he decided to write a book about it, how that helped him test his assumptions, and much more.
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About the Episode
Harpal is an award-winning product consultant and interim CPO with long experience working with a variety of startups and helping them set up effective product teams and achieving Product/Market Fit. We talk about his journey and specifically:
The benefits of being a consultant and how it's helped him to be a better leader
His passion for Product/Market Fit and why he wrote a playbook on it
His ambitions for the book and how it's helped him challenge his assumptions
What Product/Market Fit really means, why it's not just about MVPs, and the concept of a "Hair On Fire" problem
The importance of Marketing when finding Product/Market Fit and not being led solely by technology
The variability of the Product Manager role between companies & the importance of a career plan
An interview with Dave Martin, Product Management coach and founder of consultancy Right To Left - working with companies to ensure they are building products the right way, getting the right kinds of Product Managers and instilling a solid product mindset into a company.
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About the Episode
Dave is a product leader with a strong history of transforming companies into effective product-focused organisations. Most recently, he's co-founder of consultancy Right to Left, where he takes some of his past learnings and pays them forward to the next generation of product-hungry companies.
We speak about a lot, including:
How he works with early to mid stage companies to transform them
The Product Management Health Check
How Product Managers must not be seen as mere requirements gatherers
The difference between different types of Product Manager, even within successful organisations
The challenges of moving from product management into product leadership
The importance of evidence in decision making
Take the free Product Management Healthcheck
The Product Management Healthcheck is a questionnaire that will help to identify your key strengths and areas for development. Balance in a PM career is so important... I'm far from the only person to think this but I did write a Medium article on the same subject.
Janna is co-founder of ProdPad and Mind the Product, and inventor of the Now/Next/Later roadmap. We talk about how ProdPad and Mind the Product got started, the perils of falling into the trap of being an agency instead of a product company. We also talk about being diagnosed with ADHD, what that means to her and some of the advantages and disadvantages the condition brings to Product Management.
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About the Episode
Janna is co-founder of ProdPad and Mind the Product, and inventor of the Now/Next/Later roadmap. We talk about a few things:
How ProdPad started as an idea to solve a problem for Janna in her Product Management job and became a company serving thousands of Product Managers
How date-based roadmaps are the devil and how to tackle management wanting false security
The perils of building features for clients, falling into the trap of being an agency instead of a product company, and never getting the chance to solve big problems
How Mind the Product started out and how they've pivoted to run successful events even in the middle of a pandemic (and how she misses a good flat white)
Janna's recent ADHD diagnosis, what that meant to her, how she's managing it, and some of the advantages and disadvantages the condition brings to Product Management
More about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
You can find out more about ADHD in many places on the internet, and get support for a diagnosis via your medical practioner just like Janna did. Here are a few uncurated links offering further information.
Andrea works in Product Growth & Education for ProdPad. She's a lifelong learner, educator and advocate, looking to help Product Managers make good decisions. We talk about her journey into Product Management, why certifications aren't all that they cracked up to be and how Human Psychology helps make good product decisions.
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About the Episode
Andrea works in Product Growth & Education for ProdPad. She's a lifelong learner, educator and advocate, looking to help Product Managers make good decisions. We talk about her journey into Product Management, why certifications aren't all that they cracked up to be and how Human Psychology helps make good product decisions. We talk about:
How Andrea got into Product Management after being the first person to ask her boss "why?"
Why Customer Support staff are ideally placed to become Product Managers
How Andrea stays motivated during all of her social media product management advocacy, and how she loves Mondays
Why date-based roadmaps are the devil and why management want them because of Previous Product Trauma
How Product need to take more responsibility when Sales make a commitment
Why certifications aren't really worth much without follow on experience
Marc is the Head of Product - Engagement for ASOS.com, author of two books on Product Management and co-curator with Mind the Product. I spoke to Marc about his journey into Product Management, his new book 'Managing Product = Managing Tension', and some great advice about navigating a career in Product.
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About the Episode
Marc is the Head of Product - Engagement for ASOS.com, author of two books on Product Management and co-curator with Mind the Product. I originally picked up Marc's first book, My Product Management Toolkit as I was looking for a good primer for people transferring into my Product team from elsewhere in the business. I found the book a great primer and guide to product management. I was excited to see his new book come out, which covers a lot more around the psychology of Product.
I spoke to Marc about his journey into Product Management, his new book 'Managing Product = Managing Tension', and some great advice about navigating a career in Product. Marc also gives some excellent advice for Product Leaders (or aspiring Product Leaders) and ways that they can create psychological safety for their teams. As a keen boxer, Marc is also a massive advocate for using exercise to help work out some of the tensions of product management.
Competition
If you would like a chance to win a copy of Managing Product = Managing Tension, simply use the social share buttons above to share the link to the episode with your social network of choice. Make sure it's a public post, and include the hashtag #oneknightinproduct. I'll pick a random winner on Sun 17th January 2021
An interview with Busayomi Omotosho, Product Manager at Softcom. Busayomi speaks to me about Softcom's mission to connect consumers to businesses across Africa, her past working in LegalTech, how you need to apply efficient processes to Product Management, the importance of work / life balance and much more.
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An interview with Busayomi Omotosho, Product Manager at Softcom. Busayomi speaks to me about Softcom's mission to connect consumers to businesses across Africa, her past working in LegalTech, how you need to apply efficient processes to Product Management, the importance of work / life balance and much more.
An interview with Victoria Tkatch, Senior Product Manager at Sonos. Victoria is an ambitious, driven professional, operating at a million miles an hour, and she's definitely going to be your boss one day. We talk about her journey to Sonos via her own nutrition startup, her plans for the future and how she manages to keep 3 (UPDATE: 4!) side hustles going.
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About the Episode
Victoria is am ambitious, high growth Product professional on an upwards trajectory and she's definitely going to be your boss one day.
We talk about lots of things, including:
Getting into Sonos and the difference between hardware and software product management
Her journey into Product Management from founding a nutrition startup
How her FOMO has led her to create 4 side hustles - testing and learning and iterating like a pro!
Her leadership ambitions and how she wants to grow her Product career
Her advice for people wanting to get into Product Management from a standing start
Her complete inability to remember Marty Cagan's name
An interview with Mark Yamashita, Technical Product Director at Sensibill, a fintech company that means you never have to worry about expense forms again. Mark moved into Product Management from working on supercomputers and compilers, via an MBA. We talk about how technical PMs should keep away from solutioneering, how education & mentoring are so important for PMs, as well as why "Singin' in the Rain" is basically the Lean Startup
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Please note that Apple Podcasts can take more time to update than most - subscribing seems to make it quicker (honestly!)
An interview with Mark Yamashita, Technical Product Director at Sensibill, a fintech company that means you never have to worry about expense forms again. Mark moved into Product Management from working on supercomputers and compilers, via an MBA. We talk about how technical PMs should keep away from solutioneering, how education & mentoring are so important for PMs, as well as why "Singin' in the Rain" is basically the Lean Startup
An interview with Elina Sokolovska, Product Manager at Flux, an exciting fintech startup working with some big retailers via their API. Elina talks about how she loves integrations and API Product Management, as well as her addiction to startup culture, and how mountain climbing has taught her strength in the face of adversity.
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Please note that Apple Podcasts can take more time to update than most - subscribing seems to make it quicker (honestly!)
An interview with Elina Sokolovska, Product Manager at Flux, an exciting fintech startup working with some big retailers via their API. Elina talks about how she loves integrations and API Product Management, as well as her addiction to startup culture, and how mountain climbing has taught her strength in the face of adversity.
An interview with Mark Graham, Lead Product Manager at Sharktower, working with some smart data scientists to revolutionise project management software. We talk about the importance of communication in Product Management, how Product Management is similar to Football Management, and much more.
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Please note that Apple Podcasts can take more time to update than most - subscribing seems to make it quicker (honestly!)
An interview with Mark Graham, Lead Product Manager at Sharktower, working with some smart data scientists to revolutionise project management software. We talk about the importance of communication in Product Management, how Product Management is similar to Football Management, and much more.
An interview with Matt Wilkinson, founder of Zenquiries, an early stage startup focusing on helpdesk integrations with Shopify. Matt talks about his journey from an Economics degree into company foundership via a career in mobile development, and why he's currently "eating glass & staring into the abyss".
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Please note that Apple Podcasts can take more time to update than most - subscribing seems to make it quicker (honestly!)
An interview with Matt Wilkinson, founder of Zenquiries, an early stage startup focusing on helpdesk integrations with Shopify. Matt talks about his journey from an Economics degree into company foundership via a career in mobile development, and why he's currently "eating glass & staring into the abyss".
An interview with Mac Maistrelli, engineering leader with a strong background in education with the Council of Europe - passionate about creating high-performing teams, ensuring psychological safety, and creating a learning environment and getting the best out of his team.
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Please note that Apple Podcasts can take more time to update than most - subscribing seems to make it quicker (honestly!)
An interview with Mac Maistrelli, engineering leader with a strong background in education with the Council of Europe - passionate about creating high-performing teams, ensuring psychological safety, and creating a learning environment and getting the best out of his team.
An interview with Nidhi Wadmark, Product Manager with PayPal, Women in Product Chapter lead and Global Awareness Lead for Thrive, PayPal's neurodiversity and disability awareness Employee Group. Nidhi is passionate about amplifying the voice of women in tech and product as well as ensuring diversity across the board to ensure we make better product decisions.
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Please note that Apple Podcasts can take more time to update than most - subscribing seems to make it quicker (honestly!)
An interview with Nidhi Wadmark, Product Manager with PayPal, Women in Product Chapter lead and Global Awareness Lead for Thrive, PayPal's neurodiversity and disability awareness Employee Group. Nidhi is passionate about amplifying the voice of women in tech and product as well as ensuring diversity across the board to ensure we make better product decisions.
An interview with Priyanka Naik, Growth Product Manager with Advarisk and Women in Finance Top 100. Priyanka is a fearless advocate of speaking up, marketing yourself, and supporter of gender and neuro diversity. She talks about some of the challenges she's faced in a male-dominated working culture, and some of the approaches she's taken to stand out.
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Please note that Apple Podcasts can take more time to update than most - subscribing seems to make it quicker (honestly!)
An interview with Priyanka Naik, Growth Product Manager with Advarisk and Women in Finance Top 100. Priyanka is a fearless advocate of speaking up, marketing yourself, and supporter of gender and neuro diversity. She talks about some of the challenges she's faced in a male-dominated working culture, and some of the approaches she's taken to stand out.
An interview with Anna Lieberman, an aspiring Product Manager already on her first side hustle. Anna is passionate about taking her first steps into Product, documenting her journey and benefitting from strong mentorship from other strong Women in Product.
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Please note that Apple Podcasts can take more time to update than most - subscribing seems to make it quicker (honestly!)
An interview with Anna Lieberman, an aspiring Product Manager already on her first side hustle. Anna is passionate about taking her first steps into Product, documenting her journey and benefitting from strong mentorship from other strong Women in Product.
An interview with Maanas Bukkuri, a passionate educator who started out in Engineering & QA before getting a taste for Product Management. Maanas has started teaching up-and-coming PMs via Product School and shares some of his thoughts about product management, continuously learning, and paying it forward to the next generation of Product Managers.
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Please note that Apple Podcasts can take more time to update than most - subscribing seems to make it quicker (honestly!)
An interview with Maanas Bukkuri, a passionate educator who started out in Engineering & QA before getting a taste for Product Management. Maanas has started teaching up-and-coming PMs via Product School and shares some of his thoughts about product management, continuously learning, and paying it forward to the next generation of Product Managers.
An interview with Dr Nick Fine PhD, on a one-man mission to save UX by applying scientific thinking and reviving the controversial opinion that it should involve talking to users. We talk about all things UX and find out why Nick's work may have inadvertently inspired Cambridge Analytica.
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Please note that Apple Podcasts can take more time to update than most - subscribing seems to make it quicker (honestly!)
An interview with Dr Nick Fine PhD, on a one-man mission to save UX by applying scientific thinking and reviving the controversial opinion that it should involve talking to users. We talk about all things UX and find out why Nick's work may have inadvertently inspired Cambridge Analytica.
An interview with Pouya Jamshidiat. Pouya is an author, AI expert and self-described Product Dude working in the exciting field of genomics. Pouya talks about how he got into Product Management, some of the things he's learned and approaches that he uses to be an effective Product Manager when everyone around you has a PhD.
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Please note that Apple Podcasts can take more time to update than most - subscribing seems to make it quicker (honestly!)
An interview with Pouya Jamshidiat. Pouya is an author, AI expert and self-described Product Dude working in the exciting field of genomics. Pouya talks about how he got into Product Management, some of the things he's learned and approaches that he uses to be an effective Product Manager when everyone around you has a PhD.
An interview with Becca Vibert, Product Manager at Fiit and Product School featured speaker. Becca talks about her journey into Product Management via setting up an educational startup in Hong Kong, what she's learned along the way and how she's trying to help those following behind her.
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Please note that Apple Podcasts can take more time to update than most - subscribing seems to make it quicker (honestly!)
An interview with Becca Vibert, Product Manager at Fiit and Product School featured speaker. Becca talks about her journey into Product Management via setting up an educational startup in Hong Kong, what she's learned along the way and how she's trying to help those following behind her.
An interview with Saeed Khan, Product Leadership consultant, proud Canadian, builder of strong product organisations. Saeed talks about his long career in Product, how Product needs a seat at the executive table, and how some of the companies that look great on the outside are held together by sweat and toil and can never scale.
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Please note that Apple Podcasts can take more time to update than most - subscribing seems to make it quicker (honestly!)
An interview with Saeed Khan, Product Leadership consultant, proud Canadian, builder of strong product organisations. Saeed talks about his long career in Product, how Product needs a seat at the executive table, and how some of the companies that look great on the outside are held together by sweat and toil and can never scale.
An interview with Anshuman Bagri, merchandising tycoon (retired), top quality dancer and currently redefining UX for mobile-controlled sex toys. Ansh speaks about his passion for UX, the challenges and advantages of working in a taboo industry, and how you might try to explain it to your mum.
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Please note that Apple Podcasts can take more time to update than most - subscribing seems to make it quicker (honestly!)
An interview with Anshuman Bagri, merchandising tycoon (retired), top quality dancer and currently redefining UX for mobile-controlled sex toys. Ansh speaks about his passion for UX, the challenges and advantages of working in a taboo industry, and how you might try to explain it to your mum.
An interview with Kristy Olinger, credit card product manager, passionate relationship builder, co-host of The Opposite of Small Talk podcast, closet Patrick Dempsey fan. Kristy talks about why relationship-building is so important and why you should never be afraid in meetings to admit you don't know what the acronym means.
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About the Episode
Kristy is a growth-minded professional with a long career in credit card product management. I've always been terrified of the idea of product management involving physical things, but Kristy assures me that it's just as fun, if not more, as far as she's concerned. She spent a long time at Bank of America and is now working at a smaller bank, although smaller obviously still means they have loads of money in a massive vault.
Kristy also talks about her growth mindset, how she's never afraid to stick her hand up and say she doesn't know something (because half the time, no one knows) and why communication and networking are so important to developing a career.
Kristy is also the co-host of a The Opposite of Small Talk, a podcast for curious people. Go give it a listen!
An interview with Marton Gaspar, neuro-atypical product leader, advocate for autism awareness in the workplace, producer of a literally secret sauce. Marton talks about some of the challenges and benefits of autism in the workplace, how colleagues and hiring managers tend to treat autistic candidates, and how neurotypical people seem to autistic people.
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About the Episode
Marton is a freelance product leader, expert in product discovery, and passionate advocate for neurodiversity in the workplace. I came to know of him after he put out a video on LinkedIn "Working with Autism - powers & challenges". We speak about a lot, including
What is autism and what is it not?
How a diagnosis of autism made so much sense
What made him make a video challenging our assumptions about autism
Some of the challenges of autism in the workplace
Dos and don'ts when dealing with autistic colleagues
An insight into how he views neurotypical people through the lens of autism
More info about autism
There's plenty of info about autism online. A few good charities or organisations include
Deepak is a champion marshmallow stacker, experienced product leader terrified of presenting to 10-year olds. Deepak was passionate about trains growing up in India, and is excited to be working in a startup within a big company, revolutioning transport technology by using AI for good.
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About the Episode
Deepak grew up in India with a deep love for trains, and is now working for Hitachi Europe on AI-powered travel solutions. I was initially thinking of Thomas the Tank Engine-style sentient trains (that still somehow needed human drivers) but they seem to be concentrating on more day-to-day uses cases at the moment. A man can dream though!
I was also interested in what it is like working for a very large corporation with a long history, as this doesn't seem to be the sort of thing that lends itself to fast iteration and agile methods, although apparently they've got that licked.
Deepak also speaks of his renowned ability to stack marshmallows, and why presenting to kids is far more terrifying that presenting to the C-suite.
David is the author of Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain and a leading commentator on Bitcoin, blockchain and related technologies. TL;DR David doesn't think that any of this stuff is any good, and that blockchain is a solution looking for a problem.
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I've actually known David for many years, having slouched around the London alternative scene with him in the early 2000s when we could both still hack the pace. These days, he's a systems administrator for a publishing company. He also spends an awful lot of time on Twitter refreshing the page and commenting on crypto topics. It's fair to say that he's a sceptic about all of this stuff ... he's not convinced that there's any real merit to Bitcoin as a currency, that business blockchains solve any problems that can't be solved in other, better ways, or that smart contracts are either smart or contracts.